The prior art relating to boot supports is extensive, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 258,917 (Hawley); 400,876 (Stead); 823,853 (Von Essen); 1,668,219 (Sherman); 1,828,937 (Niemi); 2,529,565 (Mills); 3,483,580 (Cherry et al) and 3,681,804 (Caputo).
The fluid expandable boot supports shown in the patents to Hawley, Stead and Cherry et al have the disadvantage of being subject to puncture or rupture. The mechanically expandable types shown in the patents to Von Essen, Sherman, Niemi and Mills are relatively expensive to manufacture. The one-piece type shown in the patent to Caputo is an improvement over the foregoing types in that it is relatively rugged and inexpensive to manufacture. However, problems still remain with the Caputo support. For example, the manner of gripping the Caputo support in order to extract it from a boot makes it necessary to have the support protrude above the boot top. This in turn makes for an unsightly combination, which is particularly undesirable in commercial displays where the primary objective is to highlight the attractiveness of the boot. Also, the Caputo support is not readily adaptable to the range of standard boot heights normally encompassed by current fashion trends. In addition, the Caputo support inhibits ventilation and drying of the lower boot interior.